A friend who is a researcher of Tasmanian family history tells me that the convict indents give us yet another surname that could be "Jerusalem" and a home of Paris, instead of Madras! In the indents, Hannah gave the following information about herself and her family. As no father is mentioned, he was probably deceased.
"Husband Henry Wyatt Ville deserted me this 8 years. Mother Grace Emma Jerusalum in Paris. Brothers Henry, David, Samuel [indecipherable] rest abroad."I have also found a second convict application for permission to marry dated 16 October 1855, this time to one Jean Lanzin, a free man, with the proviso "will be recommended if clergyman is satisfied". Clearly, the earlier request to marry Edward Gregory didn't come to fruition due to Hannah's misbehaviour and one has to wonder if the clergyman had any idea about her amazing marriage track record back in England. But maybe he was suspicious, as there doesn't seem to be any Tasmanian marriage record in the names of Lanzin and Anson.
Curiously, the only mention of anyone called Jean Lanzin that I can find through the usual research sources is a person of that name who died in Belleville in France. And Belleville just happened to be another one of Hannah's aliases. Did they know each other previously? There is a lot more to this story yet to be uncovered.
Also, in December, 1865, at Port Sorrel, Tasmania, a John Shaw married a Mary Ann or Ann Mary Anson. Until proved otherwise, there is every possibility that this, too, could be our lady.
Research ongoing ...
2 comments:
I too have started researching this woman and would love to know what happened to her after she finally left the criminal justice system! Have you made any further progress?
Hi Pete. It's been a very long time since I did this research and haven't followed it up. May be worth contacting the Female Convicts Research Centre in Hobart to see if anyone else knows more.
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